This season of American Idol has been so blah that it’s bored me all the way into the land of no comments.
Last year, as soon as the performance show was over, websites were crashing from the rush of traffic to soak up recaps, analyses, conspiracy theories, and all sorts of media clips Idol-related. This year, Wednesday morning finds me instead heading to the computer to figure out if I should spring for a new waterproof digital camera or just get a waterproof case for my existing one. Mind you, this is for a snorkeling trip in October.
Yes, only sheer boredom can drive this last minute queen (although I prefer the less admonishing “crisis personality” title) to resort to planning for a trip five months in advance. (There are, of course, other more pressing matters, such as laundry and grocery shopping, but free time is not for necessities such as those. Else how can this procrastinator crisis personality maintain the ever-present illusion of always being on the go?)
So this morning, I spent my obligatory few minutes of free surfing online (minutes, hours – same difference) re-watching videos of past non-American idols. Mostly because I was in the mood to explore, and also because I already have my favorite American Idol’s videos in my hard drive. So I picked someone else to watch this time.
Meet Kurt Nilsen, Norwegian Idol 2003 and World Idol 2004. I’ve featured him here before, singing a classic with a few buddies of his. Now I don’t claim to know much about him, his personality, or his career since then. All I can say is that I’ve watched his videos more than once, and have been newly impressed every time.
Plus, he gets extra points for inspiring a judge to comment thusly:
You have the voice of an angel, but you look like a Hobbit. Right. And the fact is if we were looking for Middle-earth Idol, you’d be an absolute hands down winner.
Hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Oh, and drop me a line to let me know of other artists from any of the different iterations of the Idol show around the world worth mentioning. Sometimes we tend to forget how much talent there is outside these here mainland states.
Stuck In A Moment
One
I
(performed live in Rockefeller)
And, in response to a friend’s post wishing for an amalgam of this year’s American Idol Top 4, here is She’s So High, performed on German Idol. Vocals almost as good as Melinda’s, an everyman back story (he made his living as a plumber), and yes, even a little beatboxing thrown in there. So he’s not as tall or beautiful or young as Jordin, but hey, three out of four ain’t bad.
Update:
I couldn’t NOT put up this performance by Shayne Ward from X Factor. I just couldn’t.
